GARAGE SALES AND HOMES FOR SALE! STAY TUNED!

GARAGE SALES AND HOMES FOR SALE

TRR, Dade City, Florida
Friday, February 21, 2014
Cloudy, rainy, 81 F’

Excitement alert / caution for Randy and Brian. J This blog is going to be about more fun and foodJ. Early this morning we headed to the Garden Club booth for coffee before we set off through the community to see all the garage sales. Next door neighbor Gene (retired FF from Michigan) loaned us his golf cart. I only bought books, but it was a good opportunity to meet a lot of the people who live here, full and part time, and see the various residences.  There is a good mix of northeastern U.S. residents and 14% Canadian.

We jotted phone numbers down for some homes in the “TRR Villages,” where there are manufactured homes.  Soon enough we were looking at three homes. The first one (2007) was quite large, with tiled floors, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, beautiful kitchen, two living rooms, laundry room, a Florida room, large lanai, and two very nice workshops, which I would use for my study, about 2000 sq. ft. Priced at $120,000, including a golf cart. At TRR one owns the home and land, pays taxes ($800 for Florida residents, $1,600 for non-residents), plus $3000 yearly park fee, plus insurance. Scorchy said to offer $80,000. The size was perfect, but the lot abutted others with less privacy than our house in Pennsylvania---although the houses are well-spaced and not on top of one another. 

House #2 was much older and smaller and would need a lot of work. Mary Lou said to have floors inspected because they often need replacing.  It had two bedrooms and two baths, smaller kitchen, laundry, separate dining room, large Florida room/lanai, living room, and a small workshop area. $80,000. The lots in the TRR Villages are valued at $35,000-$40,000, although there are no lots available anymore. This lot was much more private.

House #3 was older too, 1977. Two bedrooms, two baths, nice kitchen, huge living room, huge Florida room, laundry, small lanai, and workshop, but to get to the Florida room and the lanai, one had to go through a bedroom. The nicest thing about this house was the lot—backed up to a creek and trees, with deer included. $89,000.

All three houses had RV hookups, too.

In the past 5 years we have looked at a lot of places, from southern Georgia to Estero, Florida. We have many friends and family who live in Florida full or part time. Some live in condos—high condo fees which increase yearly, living very close to others; gated communities---high yearly fees (we have seen up to $800/month—no land ownership); manufactured home communities—high yearly fees and one owns only the home, not the land (up to $800/month). Some have golf courses, most have activity centers/pools. I have to say the best deal seems to be here at TRR where one owns a share and has a vote in the community. Mary Lou said that about 1000 people live in TRR, full or part time. There is an emergency services department too, as well as a post office. She also said that RV parks are being bought up and turned into subdivisions. When a community becomes non-solvent and that happens, an entrepreneur buys it and raises fees. Some have gone bankrupt. TRR is solvent. 

If we ever did buy, we sure would know to find one where we owned the home and the land. Since we have our almost maintenance free house in Pennsylvania, we sure do not want a second home that needs lots of maintenance either! Another option is just buying a home like we do in Erie, but if we only stayed there 2-3 months, we would worry about which neighborhood, security, and so on.

The other thing we are noticing is that people ARE buying in Florida again!

After such a busy morning, we drove to Zephyrhills for dinner, another great restaurant, Sunrise Eatery. Since it is our last day in Florida, I opted for shrimp, which came with a very tasty authentic Greek salad. Tim had a variety of seafood-shrimp, fish, and clams.  Even at 2 p.m. there was a line for this restaurant (we did not really eat breakfast or lunch, as usual, so we have early dinner and a snack about 6 or 7).

Now we are preparing to leave Dade City tomorrow morning to head to Bishopville, South Carolina and the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden.

Last night we got to “Facetime” with B1 and Denise, a real treat!! We miss our family! While they were cozy in their house, we were sitting outdoors in shorts talking to them at 9:30 p.m.!

Update: OK, maybe a change of plans: While we were having strawberry shortcake at Mary Lou’s, we looked at the TR Times and saw two “Park Models” for sale. We made some calls and went to see them. A Park Model is a sort of transition between an RV and a home.

Park Model #1 was a 2011, very neat and clean, tasteful colors, electric kitchen, one bedroom, one bath, full kitchen, living area, study area, screened in porch, and a shed. $60,000, no golf cart, no TR Share. No washer and dryer.

Park Model #2 was a 2007, very neat and clean, tasteful colors, gas kitchen, one bedroom, one bath, full kitchen, living area, study area, screened in porch, and a shed. $28,000, includes newer golf cart, new washer and dryer, and a TR Share ($2700+---this is what I mentioned before, one has to have a share in the park to live here). Owners (from Maine) told us they leave the air on in the summer while they are gone and the electricity cost is $20/month. That prevents moisture and other problems.

 And so here we are, will we stay another day and take another look? We saw the sites at night. Could we live in a smaller space for 2-3 months a year? They are bigger than a balcony stateroom on a cruise ship. Stay tuned.